Muntin bar structure



March 12, 1940. V E. A; SCHOTTENBERG 2,193,299

MUNTIN BAR STRUCTURE Original Filed Oct. 11, 1938 i y- 7 Z 70 Patented Mar. 12, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE signor toTruscon Steel Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a corporation of Michigan Original application October 11, 1938, Serial No. 234,485. Divided and this application March 25, 1939, Serial No. 264,197

2 Claims.

This invention relates to muntin bar structures for use in window sashes to support window panes, or for use in grilles and the like or equiva- .lent structures, and is a division of application 5 Serial #234,485, filed October 11, 1938.

Heretofore, in forming muntin bar structures comprising bar sections extending, in effect, in crossing, right angular or other desired angular relationship to eac h other,;the usual practice has been to dispose a pair of bar sections at opposite sides of a first bar section in desired angular relationship to the first bar section and to weld the ends of the pair of bar sections to the oppoe .site sides of the first bar section. Obviously, according to such prior practice, the forming of any given joint required the cutting of three bar sections and the making of two separate welded joints, one between each of the pair of bar sections and the first bar section. As a consequence,

the fabrication of any given structure, especially where a multiplicity of window lights were required, was more or less involved, and the time and labor involved made production costs correspondingly high.

Accordingly, the present invention has primarily in view a novel muntin joint and muntin bar structure which greatly reduces the number of parts necessary to make the glass holding area of a sash, and likewise reduces the number of operations involved in making or assembling,

thus resulting in reducing ultimate speeding up fabrication and cost, while providing both a not, wherein the infiltration of air is practically invention consists bodying the novel in a muntin bar structure emfeatures of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawl ng, wherein like Figure 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the ar shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of portions of two bars arranged in position for forming the novel joint constituting the present invention.

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of a completed joint.

Figures 5 and 6 are plan views illustrating different ways of forming muntin bar structures in accordance with the invention.

Figure '7 is an elevation of a window sash equipped with a muntin bar structure produced in accordance with the invention.

Figure 8 is a detail plan view illustrating a construction in which the sections of the bars. forming the joint have an acute angular rela tionship to each other.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing in detail, it will be observed that the bar stock A from which the, present improved muntin bar structure is formed, is illustrated in the present instance as being of T-shape in cross section, embodying a web It! and, a flange l l extending laterally from each side of said web. This is a form of bar commonly employed in the fabrication of sash muntins, and therefore has been chosen for purposes of illustration in the present instance. It is to be understood, however, that the bar stock may have other cross sectional shapes, depending upon, the

I-shape, L-shape, U-shape or H-shape in cross section or, within the broader aspects of the invention, it may even be fiangeless and simply oi rectangular, circular or other desired cross sectional shape, as will hereinafter become more fully apparent. 1

According to the present invention in its broader aspects, in order to provide a muntin bar structure comprising four bar sections extending, in eiiect, in crossing, right angular or other desired angular relationship, only two bar sections are required and only a single welded joint is required to connect said bar sections. Consequently, fabrication procedure is greatly simplified and production costs are correspondingly lowered.

Generally speaking, the present method comprises bending a pair oi bar elements upon themselves to provide each of the same with a pair of bar sections disposed in desired angular relation ship to each other, then disposing the bent bar elements in corner-to-corner relationship with the four barsections disposed in desired angular relationship to each other, and then welding the bar elements together at their corners. In this" way there obviously is accomplished by means of only two bar elements and only a single welded joint all that has heretofore been accomplished by means of three bar elements and two welded joints. Moreover, the two-bar-element, single purpose it is to serve. For example, it may be of V welded-joint structure has the advantage that it is stronger and sturdier than the three-barelement, two-welded joint structure for reasons that are manifest.

If the bar stock is of a sectional shape including a web and one or more flanges extending from either or both sides of said web, the first step in accordance with the present method is to notch the flange, or flanges, of each of a pair of the stock bar elements at the point, or points, where said elements are to be bent to provide each of the same with its respective bar sections. Fig. 1 of the drawing this notching of the flanges H, H of one of the stock bar elements of T-shaped cross section is indicated at [l2, l2. The notches, of V-shape, are alined with each other transversely of the bar element and, of course, flare toward the outer edges of the flanges, beginning, preferably, at points in alinement with the opposite faces of the web, respectively. By notching the bar element the same is, in elfect, divided into a pair of bar sections, designated as S and S, respectively. Two bar elements are, of course, thus notched, the angularity of the flange endsformed by the notches depending, of course, upon the angle to which the respective bar sections S, S are to be bent relative to each other. In this connection it is assumed in the present instance that the bar sections S, S are to be bent into right angular relationship. Accordingly, the notches [2, I2 have ninety degree angles. That is to say, the flange ends formed by said notches are disposed at angles of forty-five degrees to the bar ele- ,ments.

Following notching of the flanges H, H of a selected bar element the latter is bent in any suitable manner at said notches to bring their respective sections, S, S into desired angular relationship to each other, in the present instance into right angular relationship. This has the effect of closing the notch a: at the inner sides of the bar elements and of opening the notchat the outer side of the bar until the notch-formed end-walls of the flanges at the outer sides of the bar elements become alined with each other, as illustrated at y in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawing. Whether the bar sections S, S are to be bent into right angular or other angular relationship, the notches l2, i 2 are formed so that upon bending of the bar sections to desired angular relationship, the notches at the inner sides of the bar elements are closed and the notch-formed end walls of the flanges at the outer sides of the bar elements are brought into alignment with each other at right angles to aline biseoting the angle formed by the sections S, S.

The next stepof the present method resides in arranging the bent bar elements in corner-tocorner abutting relationship, in clamping or otherwise suitably holding them in this relationship, and in welding them together at their corners,'as illustrated in Fig. 5 of the drawing. Either gas arc, resistance, or projection welding may be employed, preferably the latter. In this case the step of bending the sections S, S into desired angular relationship to one another is followed by die-pressing or forming protuberances l3 at the outer corners of the web H! of one or both of the bar elements to be united to facilitate the welding. The use of the protuberance or nib I3 greatly facilitates the formation of the weld in the respect that since it aids in quick melting of the metal at the nibs, the weld rapidly spreads outwardly along the surfaces 1:, and upon cooling and shrinking forms an airtight joint. In any event, welding of the bar elements prepared in the manner stated obviously results in a muntin bar structure comprising only two bar elements, each including two bar sections integral withand angularly related to each other, and in which the bar sections of the respective bar elements are, in effect, disposed in crossing re- ;lationship to each other. The structure thus is exceptionally strong and sturdy and its fabrication obviously may be effected with facility and, consequently, at low cost.

The foregoing description has dealt with the forming of only a single joint between a pair of bar elements each including only two bar sections. In this connection it is apparent that any given bar element may be bent into any desired number of bar sections disposed in various different relationships to each other and that the joining together of such a bar element with another bar element embodying two or more bar sections having either the same relative disposition as the bar sections of the first bar element, or a different relative disposition, involves simply duplication of welded joints between the corners of the respective bar elements. For example, Fig. 5 of the drawing illustrates that the successive bar sections S, S of a given bar element may have a stepped relationship to each other; Figure 6 of the drawing illustrates that successive bar sections S, S of a given bar element may be bent to provide the bar element with U-shaped formations, and Figure '7 illustrates a pair of stepped bar elements joined together in corner-to-corner relationship and combined with a pair of corner bar elements of L-shape to provide a complete sash muntin structure which, when embodied in the sash, as shown, provides spaces to receive nine window panes. Obviously, the manner of bending the bar sections of the barelements, and the manner of assembling or combining the diiferent bar elements with each other, in any given muntin structure, may, within the purview of the invention, be varied within wide limits.

As to the fastening of the outer ends of the bar sections of any given muntin structure to the rails of a window sash or other frame element, that may be done by welding or in any other suitable manner with which the present invention is not concerned.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A muntin bar structure comprising a pair of one-piece bar elements each including a web and a flange, each bar element having its web bent to provide a corner and a pair of bar sections diverging from said corner, the flange of each bar element being disposed at the side thereof opposite the included angle defined by the diverging bar sections, the edge of the flange of each bar element at the corner of the element being disposed at right angles to aline bisecting the angle defined by the diverging b-ar sections and substantially tangentially to the corner of the web of the bar element, said bar elements being disposed in opposed corner to corner relationship with the corners of their webs and the edges of their flanges at said corners in abutting relationship, and a welded joint between the corner portions of the webs of said bar e1eof each bar element at the corner of the element being disposed at right angles to a line bisecting the angle defined by the diverging bar sections and substantially tangentially to the corner of the Web of the bar element, said bar elements being disposed in opposed corner to corner relationship with the corners of their Webs and the edges of their flanges at said corners in abutting relationship, and a welded joint between the corner portions of the websof said bar ele- 10 ments.

ELMON A. SCHOTTENBERG. 

